Island off West Java. Photo by Rhett Butler Indonesia’s middle and upper classes are becoming increasingly interested and supportive of environmental conservation. Still, they have some way to go to…
Illegal gold mining operation in Aceh, Indonesia. Photo by Junaidi Hanafi. In the wake of massive fish die-offs and repeated calls from environmental groups to do more than just talk…
The Environment Ministry of Sintang Regency, West Kalimantan, Indonesia declared that the water in many rivers and lakes is unsuitable for consumption due to high levels of pollution. "Much of…
Last fall tens of thousands of Bangladeshis participated in a five day march that took them from the country's capital to the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest. They marched…
The spill site in Cuninico, Peru. Courtesy of Google Earth. A ruptured pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into the Marañón River in late June…
Stream in the middle of a new oil palm plantation. Oil palm cultivation is a lucrative form of land use in Indonesia, but the new study suggests that it may…
Millions drink toxic arsenic in their water. This German nature lover and microbiologist says bioluminescent bacteria could light the path to safety. Interview by Nsikan Akpan. A knob turns, and…
The catastrophic explosion that spewed some five million barrels of oil deep into the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 will take a heavy toll in the ocean’s lowest layers…
The last few years have ushered in a new national and global awareness of fracking, the 150-year-old technology for extracting natural gas and oil from rock. Fracking, short for hydraulic…
This is an expanded version of an article that ran on Yale e360 on October 29th, 2013: A Key Mangrove Forest Faces Major Threat from a Coal Plant. Bengal tiger…
Río Huepetuhe gold mine in Peru in the Peruvian Amazon. Photo by Rhett A. Butler The extent of gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon has surged 400 percent since 1999…
Activists have urged the Indonesian government to cancel or reassess plans to build a 148-kilometer coal railway in Indonesian Borneo, claiming the project will be an “ecological disaster” that will…
From massive hotel development through the agriculture industry, humans are destroying the second largest barrier reef in the world: the Mesoamerican Reef. Although global climate change and its effects on…
Colombia rules against multinational corporation that demanded disciplining of environment officials. Colombian authorities have ruled that local environmental officials acted correctly in ordering South African mining giant AngloGold Ashanti to…
Click to enlarge In a patch of rainforest in northern Sumatra, a 28-year-old in jeans and tall rubber boots snubs out his cigarette and pulls a headlamp over his short…
The Madre de Dios region in Peru is recognized for its lush Amazon rainforests, meandering rivers and rich wildlife. But the region is also known for its artisanal gold mining,…
The majority of the 9 billion people on Earth will live with severe pressure on fresh water within the space of two generations as climate change, pollution and over-use of…
Exposure to dangerous chemicals from toxic waste sites may be creating a public health crisis in developing countries comparable to that caused by malaria or even air pollution, a new…
Mobile device giant Samsung has admitted to using tin sourced from a controversial mining operation on the Indonesian island of Bangka, where unregulated mining kills 150 miners a year and…
Heavy air pollution, smog and deposition of N in the city centre of Urumqi, China. Credit: Mr. Liu Xuejun Nitrogen deposited on land and water in China increased 60 percent…
Demonstration in San Salvador, urging lawmakers to institute legislation ensuring the human right to water. Photo by: Robin Oisín Llewellyn. On hot days the broken stone and dried up silt…
Access to clean water is most difficult in Africa. Here a woman in Tanzania gathers water from a hole in a riverbed. Photo by: Bob Metcalf. Over the past two…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Thursday it found chemicals used in the process of hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas in water supplies in Wyoming. The preliminary findings…
